Cute Things

I love animals. Obviously! One of my favorite aspects of being an animal communicator is hearing all of the cute and amazing things animals do.

For this newsletter, I wanted to share some adorable moments that occur in my household. Many of these instances do not directly relate to telepathic communication, but I feel they speak to the ever important issue of enjoying every moment spent with animals. Our animal friends live in the moment, inventing very unique places to sleep, things to eat, and other crazy antics; rarely to be held back by public opinion.

Brussel Sprout Rugby

The rabbits, Arthur and Clyde , live for food. Each day at lunch they get two Brussel sprouts; presumably one per rabbit. If either of the rabbits drops their sprout, they are incapable of finding it again. The farsighted nature of rabbits combined with impatience seems to explain this phenomenon. So the rabbit that drops their sprout attempts to steal the other one’s sprout. This results in a raucous game of Brussel Sprout Rugby. They run, body slam, steal the sprout back and forth, and try to chew really fast whenever they manage to take a bite. (They never hurt each other, it is just a game.)

Speaking Their Language

My husband Tim and Nikita (orange cat) have a special language. When Tim comes home from work Nikita meets him in the driveway. Tim makes a purring sound and Nikita stretches his head up and waits for Tim to swoop his hand down, petting Nik from the nose to the tail. Nikita will do the same for me, but Tim was the inventor of this communication.

That is Not Our Property

When I am outside with May (gray cat), she gets very upset if I talk to any neighbors, or go on their lawn. She stands at the edge of our property and meows. She says, “That’s not our property, you don’t belong there”. The irony is that she feels perfectly fine about visiting the neighbors when she is on her own.

Sugared Cushions

The rabbits with their bottomless pit stomachs, will attempt to eat anything that smells good. If anyone is eating fruit or sweets, it is necessary to wash hands before playing with the rabbits because they will take a “taste”. They never bite, but they are not adverse to nibbling flavored fingers.

One day Tim (husband) was eating strawberries dipped in powdered sugar while sitting on the couch. The next day Clyde chewed several holes in the couch cushion. He said, “It tasted like powdered sugar”. Who can argue with that?

The Door Must Stay Open

Sasha enjoys the outdoors, but also has fears. She will not go outside unless the door stays open. However, she doesn’t trust us to leave the door open, so she will only go outside if we are outside and the door is open. Then she watches us, and runs to the doorway if we go anywhere near it, to make sure we can’t close it with her outside. I have tried promising, but she likes to make sure.

Take it and Run

Arthur and Clyde , our food hounds, love to eat almost anything. We have to keep the dry cat food out of reach, and we must protect our own meal while we are eating at the coffee table. On several occasions the boys have stolen a full can of soda, promptly spilling it on the carpet. One time Clyde stole an apple from a student’s purse. Whenever they take food, they always run as fast as possible carrying the loot in their mouth, back to a “safe” spot.

Flirting

May (gray cat), loves to flirt with people. She will do little half somersaults and stretch out with her belly to the sky. She rolls on her back waiting for belly rubs. Whenever we make eye contact with her, Tim and I squint, and then she squeezes her eyes closed. That is “I love you” in cat language.

Chirping at Cats

Our long haired orange cat, Sasha, has the cutest habit of chirping at other cats. If she is on the bed and Nikita enters the room (even in the dark), she will start chirping. It is a sound reserved only for other cats, her own special greeting. The other cats think it’s ridiculous, but she keeps doing it. We love it; it is like a combination purr, meow, and chirp.

Consolidation

Clyde (white rabbit) loves to be petted. He could spend hours getting a head rub. Arthur always wants to do whatever Clyde does- he is the eternal sidekick. Whenever we are petting Clyde , Arthur slides his head under our hand and smashes his cheek against Clyde ’s. We call this consolidation; very convenient because we can pet two rabbits with one hand.

I’m in the Litter Box

I previously wrote about our efforts to litter train Arthur (French lop). He is 99% accurate in terms of using the litter box, if you go by his definition of “using”. He likes to put his front feet in the box and hang by his armpits over the side. This leaves the hind end (the important end) just outside of the box. No matter what I tell him about it, he says, “I am in the litter box.” We tried every kind of gadget, strategy, and communication, but nothing seems to work. I even made him a handicap accessible box to make it easier to climb in with his arthritic hips. Finally I surrendered to the cuteness!

This Food Tastes Like S*&%

Nikita, “the man”, likes canned cat food; or so he says. He usually looks forward to the meal, but when he gets it sometimes he disapproves of the flavor. He scrapes the linoleum around the bowl as if to bury the food. I asked him why, and he said, “This food tastes like S*&%!” (The other cats think it tastes fine.)

Thank you for indulging me in my tails of cuteness. I had a hard time narrowing the article down to only a select few. Please love and cherish the moments you have with your animals. Understanding animals is sometimes more about appreciating them, and less about trying to “figure” them out.